National Blog

Libya: How Did We Get Into This Mess?

If I didn't believe in upholding high standards of public discourse, I would suggest that America's foreign policy is being run by idiots, incompetents, ignoramuses, and fools. But I believe in maintaining a positive public debate. The people who keep getting the U.S. involved in stupid and unnecessary wars are merely misguided.

Saddled with infighting and undermined by the occasionally ruthless and undisciplined behavior of its fighters, the six-month-old rebel uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi is showing signs of sliding from a struggle to overthrow an autocrat into a murkier contest between factions and tribes.

The increase in discord and factionalism is undermining the effort to overthrow Colonel Qaddafi, and it comes immediately after recognition of the rebel government by the Western powers, including the United States, potentially giving the rebels access to billions of dollars in frozen Libyan assets, and the chance to purchase more modern weaponry.

Remind me again, why are are in the middle of a complicated civil war in a land of no significant interest to America? And who is going to clean up the mess that increasingly seems likely to be the ultimate outcome of Washington's counterproductive medding?,